UK police shoot 'man with axe' dead

A 31-year-old man who was shot and injured by British police amid reports he was "running around with an axe" has died, the police watchdog says.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) confirmed the man, who has not been named, died in hospital after he was shot by officers from Humberside Police close to Hull city centre on Tuesday morning.

IPCC associate commissioner Tom Milsom said: "Our thoughts are with the man’s friends and family, and all those affected at this very difficult time."

Witnesses at the scene of the shooting said they heard loud gunshots and then saw a man on the floor, surrounded by police, with "blood gushing out of him".

An area around Francis Street was cordoned off on Tuesday.

Firefighters could be seen erecting large screens in a car park in the street and there appeared to be a red and white screen in place outside a building.

Office workers stood outside the building watching as police stood guard at the cordons.

Andre Foster said he was in a nearby building and saw the man after he had been shot by police.

"We heard two big, loud bangs, gun sounds, we looked out the window, we saw this fella on the floor, blood was gushing out of him," he said.

"There were around six police around him, trying to stop him bleeding.

"I never saw an axe or anything, never saw a weapon."

Foster added: "It looked like he’d been tasered. He had a big cut at the bottom, near his liver, and one at the top I think, and blood was just gushing out of him."

"He was moving around, wriggling his body around like he was in agony."

A man near the scene, who did not want to be named, said he believed the injured man was his cousin.

He said his cousin suffers from mental health issues and has problems with drugs.

He said: "All I’ve heard is one of my friends rang me and said ‘Your cousin’s been running around with an axe and he’s been tasered and they’ve shot him’. That’s all I know. I’m going to go and find out how he is now."